County schools nominated for Blue Ribbon program

Four San Diego County schools are among 35 in California nominated for the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program award, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced Thursday.

“I applaud the principals, teachers, staff, and families whose commitment to learning has led to success in the classroom,” Torlakson said in a prepared statement. “Schools nominated for this significant recognition are performing at very high levels or are making impressive strides in student progress under challenging circumstances.”

The local schools up for the honor are Kearny High School’s International Business Academy in San Diego, Ocean Air Elementary School in Del Mar, Torrey Pines Elementary School in La Jolla and Standley Middle School in University City.

Schools are eligible for the national honors if they meet one of two performance criteria:

High-performing schools that place at least in the 85th percentile statewide when it comes to students scoring proficient or advanced in English language arts and mathematics on state standardized exams. The other category is for schools that made significant improvements and where at least 40 percent of students live under the federal poverty line. Those schools must be among the top 10 percent of schools in the state when it comes to demonstrating the greatest improvements in the percent of students scoring proficient or advanced in English language arts and mathematics in state standardized tests over the past five years.

The national winners will be announced in September. The National Blue Ribbon program is part of a broader effort by the U.S. Department of Educaiton effort to identify and disseminate knowledge about best school leadership and teaching practices in public schools throughout the country.